The Longest Night
by AlwaysForeverDreamer
Summary: Cloud is fifteen and enlisting in SOLDIER but his dreams are complicated by his past and growing friendships within the ranks. He's forced to confront his reasons for joining SOLDIER and consider other paths available to him as he comes to maturity in the back-stabbing world of the Shin-Ra power company. No pairings. M for language and violence in the later chapters.
1. Poison

**Disclaimer**: All Final Fantasy Seven characters, places and situations are the property of Square Soft/Square Enix and are used without permission and without intent of plagiarism or profit. Copyright for all original stories, characters, and situations is with the author, and may not be published, copied, distributed or archived without the author's prior written consent.

This is my first attempt at chapter story and a posting schedule. I'll be learning the system while I post this so please be patient.

o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0 o-o0o-o0o-o0o

Cloud hit the ground hard, coughing and wheezing.

"Having some trouble, Cadet?" The drill sergeant barked.

"No…sir." Cloud barely got the words out as he struggled upright and forced his lungs to inhale.

His vision went black briefly from lack of air and he gasped a few more times before he jumped back onto the cargo net to scurry up with the second wave of cadets. He nearly fell from the net again when he got to the top but twisted one hand in the rope to hang on as he found his footing again and finally heaved himself onto the platform at the top. He could see the first wave of cadets—the group he'd started with—yards ahead of him and crawling like mad under the wires.

"Fuck." Cloud gasped, his entire rib-cage hurt. The other cadets were shuffling at the edge of the platform, each trying to be the next to crawl across the length of rope to the next platform.

Cloud didn't mind waiting, he coughed several times to try and get his breathing back under control. He couldn't believe how much that fall had taken out of him. Finally, it was his turn to begin across the rope. The guy that went in front of him put more and more distance between them on the rope but Clouds' muscles were seizing up. He reached up to grab the rope again and fear swallowed him whole as his lungs stopped pulling in air entirely. He didn't have the strength, the desire, the control, to hold on to the rope any longer.

There was a long drop to the ground from the rope, long enough for him to realize landing wrong could hurt him. Suddenly, arms wrapped around him like iron bands. Something carried him sideways for several feet and then he was looking up into the icy face of General Sephiroth. Cloud couldn't manage to feel shocked or awed at the General catching him, he couldn't breathe and that took his full attention.

"He's having some kind of an attack." Sephiroth said. "I'm taking him to medical bay."

Just like that Cloud was in motion again. Sephiroth was carrying him and they were moving fast, he could hear the air rushing through his ears. He gasped hard, barely getting any air into his lungs. Sephiroth looked down at him, cat-like eyes wide as he took in the cadets' state.

"Calm down." Sephiroth said, pulling him close, "breath, pull air in through your nose, push it out through your mouth." His voice was calm and even.

Cloud managed a small breath, then another. His chest hurt and his head was swimming but having something to focus on was helping him tremendously. He focused on a small freckle just below the General's ear and did his best to force his lungs to keep expanding and contracting—even if it didn't feel like he was getting any air.

A mask dropped over Cloud's face and a rubber band secured it as something was attached to his arm. He heard beeping and before he could see it coming someone had stuck an IV into his arm and ripped his shirt open to stick sensors to him. Breathing became immensely easier, his entire body began to relax, they must have given him a sedative.

"Can you tell what's wrong?" Sephiroth asked quietly.

Cloud's eyes were unfocused as he looked over to where Sephiroth was standing with a doctor. He looked concerned. Cloud felt a little happy about that, Sephiroth was concerned about him. A little voice in the back of his head said that it was only because he would be under Sephiroth's command if he entered the ranks of SOLDIER, but it still felt nice that such a famous man was concerned.

"He's breathing now, but his blood oxygen level is low. His body isn't absorbing oxygen like it should. According to his file he doesn't have any prior health concerns." The doctor said.

"I'd hope not, something _that_ severe shouldn't have made it through the screening process." Sephiroth took the offered medical chart and scanned it. "No asthma, no chronic stomach disorders, no chronic breathing disorders, no venereal diseases, nothing." He paused. "What's this?"

"Hmm?" The doctor looked over Sephiroths' shoulder and away from the tech she'd been instructing on what tests to run on Cloud's blood.

"This number, it seems high." Sephiroth said.

"It is a tad high but that shouldn't be of concern." The doctor said. "It's a stress indicator, if I remember right; yours runs much higher than that."

"Do you think its asthma? Allergies? Is he the victim of biological warfare? Should I be getting the other Cadets out of the field?" Sephiroth quick-fired questions at her.

"I don't think there's any reason to worry about the other Cadets." The doctor said. "He seems to be stable. We'll run a full blood work-up and do a complete physical. I can have a report sent to you, sir."

"No, that's not necessary. I'll be back in a few hours." Sephiroth handed over the folder he'd been examining. "It's strange that he fell ill so suddenly." The great mans' brow furrowed as he said that.

Cloud watched as Sephiroth left the room, then turned towards the tech that was sitting beside him, he hadn't even felt her start drawing blood. He blinked at her, she was fuzzy and blinking helped less to bring her into focus each time he tried. She smiled at him and pushed his hair out of his eyes. He tried to smile back.

"Hey there, Cloud." The doctor leaned over him. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired…can I sleep?" Cloud asked.

"Yes." She patted his hand. "We're going to check you over—see what's wrong—but you can sleep through that if you want."

"Thank you." Cloud's mind was foggy and getting foggier. "G'night."

Cloud closed his eyes and when he opened them again Sephiroth was sitting at the cabinet beside him doing paper-work and Cloud's mind wasn't as foggy as it had been when he closed his eyes. He tried to sit up but every joint in his body hurt, he made a noise and fell back against the bed. Sephiroth looked up at him and slid to the bed-side in the rolling chair.

"I understand your name is Cloud Strife, age 15?" Sephiroth paused while Cloud nodded, then continued. "The good news is that we have a verdict, that bad news is the verdict." Sephiroth's brow creased. "Apparently you have mako poisoning? Were you aware of that?"

Cloud cleared his throat and pulled down his air mask as Sephiroth held out a cup of water for him. Cloud blushed as he took the water the man offered him. It was a struggle not to drink the entire glass but he had a feeling his stomach wouldn't like that. Sephiroth watched him patiently and took the glass from him when he lowered it.

"I didn't know I had Mako poisoning…is that bad?" Cloud asked.

"Not always, and not in your case. SOLDIERS have mako poisoning; I have a mako saturation level of about twenty-seven percent." Sephiroth said. "According to the tests you have a poisoning level of about twelve percent, that's just under the ideal level for a SOLDIER third class."

"So what's wrong with me if it's not the poisoning?" Cloud asked.

"You're in mako withdrawal." Sephiroth said with a concerned expression. "Do you have any idea where your poisoning came from?"

"Um…" Cloud blushed and fidgeted. "I spent a lot of time in a Materia cave…"

"Daily? Hours a day?" Sephiroth asked.

"Pretty much." Cloud said.

"If you did that for several years it would lead to the twelve percent mako level." Sephiroth said as he noted down what Cloud had said. "And this is your fourth month here, how long since you left home?"

Sephiroth was looking over Cloud's performance report and frowning. Cloud wanted to snatch the report away from him, he knew what his performance records would look like. He'd started bad and gotten worse.

"Six months, it took a while to get to Midgar." Cloud said.

"Alright, so you're accustomed to small—miniscule—doses of mako on a highly regular basis and you've gone half a year without them." Sephiroth sighed, closing the report and finally looking into Clouds' eyes. "This is getting complicated. I was hoping you'd gotten a massive dose somehow."

"Am I going to be alright, sir?" Cloud asked.

"Yes." Sephiroth said. "We don't take Mako levels when cadets first arrive. Perhaps we should begin doing so in case this happens again…you see, you need regular doses of mako to keep your body at a specific level or you begin destabilizing, eventually your body would stabilize at it's pre-mako state but it's a painful road." Sephiroth looked back at the papers he'd been going over when Cloud woke up.

"So…what's going to happen? How do I treat it?" Cloud asked.

"SOLDIERS receive a mako bath once a year in order to maintain their levels. Usually in twice the concentration of the level being maintained in their body—however, that's not you're your body is used to and it could send you into shock."

"But don't third classes receive mako showers?" Cloud couldn't understand how he'd go into shock worse than someone without previous mako exposure receiving the same treatment.

"Third classes do go into shock when they receive their initial dose, however, they are given a specially treated formula that reduces the impact of the shock and conditions there body for future doses. You did not receive that. You'll need to receive escalating doses with the special formula that will prepare your body for the standard large doses. This will take a few months before you reach the standard fourteen to seventeen percent that third classes are held at." Sephiroth paused to search Clouds' face to see if he understood.

"I won't lie, it will probably hurt. The doctor described it to me like this: you're used to running sprints and we're trying to make you run a marathon. Natural mako is easier for the body to absorb, but it's less stable than the formula we use for the mako showers. Unfortunately the more stable formula is harder to absorb." Sephiroth smiled when Cloud indicated he understood. "Of course, this is your decision." Sephiroth said. "If you don't want to go through this pain we could give you a natural booster and send you home."

"I don't want to go home, sir." Cloud said.

Sephiroth smiled. "I'm glad to hear that cadet." His smile fell. "Consider it carefully though. If you choose to stay and receive this treatment you'll have to be pulled from your class because your health is going to be extremely up and down until you reach stability. You'll be trained intensely in private on your good days and be placed directly into SOLDIER once you reach the proper mako level."

Cloud's mouth opened but nothing came out. He swallowed and tried to thank him but couldn't manage to speak. Sephiroth seemed amused by that. He ignored Cloud as he began noting things down once again, then stood with his files.

"Take tonight to consider the options. I'll be back in the morning to hear your decision and brief you on your new situation if you choose to stay."

"I'm not leaving sir." Cloud said suddenly.

Sephiroth stopped and smiled at him. "Then we'll begin arrangements for your treatment. Get some rest." The general headed to the door, stopping just long enough to smile over his shoulder. "Welcome to SOLDIER."


	2. Dinner

**Disclaimer**: All Final Fantasy Seven characters, places and situations are the property of Square Soft/Square Enix and are used without permission and without intent of plagiarism or profit. Copyright for all original stories, characters, and situations is with the author, and may not be published, copied, distributed or archived without the author's prior written consent.

I wanted to get this chapter posted last weekend but I've been pretty sick. I'm feeling better and I'm hoping to get chapter 3 up faster than this one. I'm still not entirely happy with how this turned out but if I stare at this chapter much longer I may go insane. I dithered for a while on the spelling options for SOLDIER and Shin-Ra. I finally decided to go with the all capitals and the hyphenated version, I like them better than "Soldier" and "Shinra".

Open question: Should I capitalize "president" when refering to president Shin-Ra? Is it like Mom and Dad where you only capitalize it if it's being used in place of their name?

Crown Lance look like Jellyfish so I assume that they are/can be venomous. Now, onto the story.

o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0 o-o0o-o0o-o0o

Cloud discreetly pinched his thigh; he couldn't believe he was actually standing in his hero's apartment. General Sephiroth moved quietly around his home, stuffing dirty clothes and trash into a laundry hamper and hiding personal items he didn't want on display for his new room-mate inside his coat. He even picked up a couch one handed and scooped out a stack of mail, then sat the piece of furniture in a different place that opened up the living room a little.

"Is there anything I can do, sir?" Cloud asked.

"I've prepared a room for you, the door is open, on the left." Sephiroth motioned down the hall. "Feel free to settle in, I'll be finished in a moment."

Cloud walked towards the indicated room, stopping when Sephiroth called his name suddenly. "And Cloud? My name is Sephiroth, when I'm off duty I prefer to be called by name."

"Of course, Sephiroth." Cloud said, the name feeling unnatural in his mouth.

The room Sephiroth was referring to was plain but there was a complete bed-set and it was clean. Cloud sat his bags on the bed and began finding places for everything. The day before he'd been in Shin-Ra's medical bay, and the day before that he'd been in bunk A3 of a leaky dorm-building, his head was spinning from how fast things were moving.

Cloud took his underwear to the dresser beside the bed and froze when he saw the equipment in the top-drawer. It was a compact version of the monitors he'd been attached to in the medical bay. He looked around and slowly realized that the entire room was set up to double as a medical facility—Sephiroth had just done a very good job of hiding it. Cloud took a deep breath and closed the drawer, opening the one beneath it for his clothes to go in.

He'd almost forgotten about the high-probability that he'd experience similar attacks to the one he'd had on the obstacle course. Between that and the frequent doses of Mako he _had _to be rooming with a SOLDIER. He wasn't Sephiroth's room-mate, he was Sephiroth's _burden_. Cloud sat down on the bed as that realization hit him. He found the framed photo of his mother and stared down at it. Maybe he should have gone home.

There was a sound in the doorway and Cloud looked up to see Sephiroth standing there.

"Are you regretting your decision?" Sephiroth asked.

"No!" Cloud sighed. "Yes…I never wanted to burden anyone."

"You think that you're burdening me?" Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

"I am." Cloud said. "I'm in your spare room, it's been outfitted with medical equipment, you're my keeper…" Cloud looked down at the photo.

"You're not the first kid that's sat in that bed and let me take care of them." Sephiroth said in a professional tone. "It's more common than people think. If a SOLDIER misses their yearly shower then in a matter of days they're in withdrawal." He sighed and put on a friendlier expression as he walked into the room and sat down on the bed beside Cloud. "Is that your mother?"

"Yes…I joined up because of her." Cloud smiled as he became lost in a memory.

Sephiroth stared down at the picture for a moment before his professional demeanor returned and he stood. "You shouldn't display anything on the drawers, if I have to get in it quickly anything on top could fall and break."

"Ah…I didn't think about that." Cloud said, glancing at the drawer beside his bed.

"I've ordered dinner. Finish settling in and we can talk while we eat." Sephiroth said as he strode out of the room.

There wasn't much left for Cloud to do, but he set about doing it all the same. He hung his civvies and his uniforms in the closet and finally folded his empty bags and found a place to sit them in the bottom of his closet. He didn't have many personal items: the photo of his mother, several books, and a good-luck stone he'd found in the mountains were piled in the bottom drawer of his dresser before he sat back down on the bed.

Cloud looked around the room once again, still in shock at the arrangements. He wanted to go for a walk but he had already received his first mako shower. Dr. Nomura had informed him that he would be toxic to non-mako enhanced people for at least twenty-four hours. Apparently people that had bad reactions to mako could be hospitalized just from walking beside him.

"Cloud?" Sephiroths' voice drifted down the hall as the front door closed.

Cloud hurried out into the living area where Sephiroth was already setting their meal out on the small dining table that separated his kitchen from the living room. He glanced around the apartment again, he'd had always thought that the great General Sephiroth would live in a big apartment with expensive trappings and an understated color scheme. Instead he lived in a standard-size apartment and the colors were like a box of crayons had exploded.

"I thought you'd like something a little milder." Sephiroth said as he laid out silverware and yellow cloth napkins. "Mako treatments are known to upset stomachs."

"I feel fine." Cloud said. "Maybe I won't have as many side-effects with the smaller doses?" He sat in the chair that Sephiroth had indicated.

"That is something to be hoped." Sephiroth sat down himself, and then suddenly rose again. "I didn't get drinks. What would you like? Tea, water, I don't approve of soda and I can't drink dairy but I do have Kool-Aid."

"Tea, please." Cloud said, beginning to add that he could get it himself, but Sephiroth was already taking down two mismatched glasses from the cupboard and pouring drinks. He returned to the table with a glass of tea for Cloud and a glass of bright orange Kool-Aid for himself.

Cloud quietly served himself a plate out of the containers and began to eat, the silence between them dragging into the uncomfortable area. Cloud watched Sephiroth as slyly as he could, trying to think of a way to start a conversation. He wasn't great at conversing with people that he didn't idolize. He was pretty sure it would have been less intimidating to have dinner with president Shin-Ra himself. Cloud was about to resort to talking about the weather when Sephiroth discreetly spit cauliflower into his napkin.

"Don't like cauliflower?" Cloud asked.

"No." Sephiroth looked like a child who'd been caught hiding his vegetables. "I've never had it before…I don't normally order this kind of food for myself."

"If you don't like it then we could have ordered something else." Cloud felt guilty that Sephiroth had bought something he didn't like because of him. "What do you prefer?"

"I eat a lot of Wutainese." Sephiroth said. "I got used to it during the war." He shrugged, "Up until then I was raised on Shin-Ra cafeteria food and MRE's. I guess you could say that Wutainese was the first real food I ever had. Hojo was always more concerned with nutrient percentages and calorie counts of food than the taste and everyone else was happy to leave my health in his hands. Now and then I had dinner with the president and his business associates or the occasional lunch out with a lab technician but those were rare."

Cloud nodded, he'd followed Sephiroths' exploits closely in the news and he remembered reading in one of the articles that the man had been raised inside Shin-Ra by various scientists and executives. The silence began again and Cloud felt uncomfortable. The general seemed to be offering private information freely so Cloud decided that it would be rude of him not to do the same.

"It was just me and mom. She had a job at the local inn but it didn't pay so good. Sometimes she'd get to bring home leftovers at the end of the night but most of the time we'd eat whatever we could find, catch, or grow. I can remember the two of us setting traps and mom stewing whatever was in it: Bahba Velamyu, Battery Caps, even Crown Lance. When we were lucky there were Nibel wolves—they actually tasted _good_—but they were harder to catch."

Sephiroth frowned. "Cloud, none of those are considered edible. Crown Lance can actually be venomous and I'm not sure Bahba Velamyu are natural creatures."

"When you're dirt poor you'll try to cook just about anything." Cloud didn't look up when he spoke, it was embarrassing for him to talk about the way he and his mother lived. When he'd arrived in Midgar he'd learned that the people of Nibelheim were considered to be below the average poverty line, and his family had been poor by Nibelheim standards.

"I…didn't know that…" Sephiroths' brow knitted together as he thought, and examined Cloud's expression. "Perhaps a change in subject?"

"I wouldn't mind one." Cloud replied.

"How was school?" Sephiroth asked. "I never attended a school. I sat in a room with one of the technicians and read books instructing me in what was believed important." He looked cross as he added, "They were never anything I actually wanted to read…but sometimes people would sneak in story books for me. Danny used to bring me in this series that put out a new book every month." He smiled. "She still works down there, and she still brings them in for me."

"I didn't go to school." Cloud said. "Everything I learned was from my mother…"

Cloud considered stopping there but the curiosity in the General's eyes made him _want_ to keep talking. It was a completely foreign sensation for Cloud; he couldn't recall ever feeling a desire to reveal himself to someone. He didn't even reveal unnecessary details to his mother and he was closer to her than anyone else in the world.

"A lot of times…" Cloud hesitated a moment, before he hurried on. "I'd take my camping gear and stay out for days... If I could live off the land it was one less mouth for mom to feed, and it was less time I had to spend around people I didn't like. I figured out pretty fast that the Materia caves stayed at a more comfortable temperature so I'd camp in them."

"Alone?" Sephiroth frowned.

"Always alone." Cloud shrugged. "No one really liked us. Mom had me out of wedlock and kids have a way of picking up on their parents' bigotries."

Sephiroth frowned again and Cloud felt bad for bringing down the conversation, but the general kept talking about the past and he didn't want to lie. He thought about other things he could shift the conversation to but he just wasn't sure what the two of them might have in common. Sephiroths' voice brought Cloud out of his musings.

"If you had so little tying you to Nibelheim then why not leave?" Sephiroth asked. "Neither of you are happy there…"

"Dad." Cloud said. "He left before I was born, but he promised mom to come back and marry her once he was able to return."

"It's been over fifteen years, though, hasn't it?" Sephiroth asked.

"Nearly sixteen." Cloud stared at the table between them. "Mom says he'll still come back. She was never some giddy schoolgirl, if she says he's the kind of man that would still come back…I believe her." Cloud looked up, concern carved deep into his features. "But I'm beginning to worry that he died."

"That is a very real possibility." Sephiroth said, his frown melting away to reveal an emotion that Cloud couldn't quite place. "Will you tell me about your parents?"

"My mother's name is Claudia Strauss. She was born and raised in Nibelheim; in fact we live in the same house that my great-grandmother was born in. She's always full of energy, and brilliant." He was smiling. "Brave too. Everyone in Nibelheim is scared of the Shin-Ra mansion but when one of the kids threw my toy through a broken window she went in to get it for me."

"She sounds like a handful." Sephiroth said.

"She is a handful." Cloud said. "But I'm pretty quiet so I can use someone to drag me out of my shell…"

Cloud turned back to his meal as he thought about his dad. Sephiroth patiently waited for him to put his thoughts together.

"I don't know a lot about my dad." Cloud began slowly. "His name is Desmond Strife. Mom said that he was really tall and strong. The winter after mom's parents died she found him bleeding in the snow and she took him in. He told stories of far off places and made her very happy, unfortunately, he was on a mission and he had to leave when he got better. He never told mom what the mission was, just that he had to complete it and then he'd come back for her."

Cloud began eating again, waiting to see if Sephiroth would offer any information in return since that seemed to be the pattern, but this time the silver general reminded quiet. Cloud decided that was for the best, from what he'd read about the man he was pretty sure that Sephiroth never met his parents. They didn't talk again while they finished dinner but the atmosphere was relaxed.

Cloud's day was finally catching up with him. He was beginning to feel sore and tired. He finished his dinner and leaned back in the chair to rest a moment. He closed his eyes, vaguely aware that Sephiroth was calling his name

The next time Cloud opened his eyes panic spread through him. He was staring up at the ceiling in his room. He glanced over to see that the top drawer was pulled out and he was hooked to the machines inside. The big post of his bed had been opened to reveal a concealed air-tank and a pole extending from the other held his IV. Sephiroth stood beside him, drawing medicine out of a bottle.

"What happened?" Cloud asked.

"You've had another attack." Sephiroths' voice was calm but his clothes were askew and he was frowning. "I told you they would be sporadic."

"I didn't think they'd hit me like a wrecking ball. I felt bad for days before that attack on the training course." Cloud fought weakly to pull down the air-mask, it made speaking difficult.

Sephiroth held it in place and injected the medicine into his IV. "I admit I didn't expect you to have such a sudden attack." He frowned. "I think I'll be leaving things a bit more open in the future."

Cloud followed the general's eyes to the bedpost with the oxygen tank and saw that the cover had dents in it from the general's fingers. Cloud sighed and looked back at Sephiroth as he pulled the needle out of the IV and dropped it into a canister he'd brought out for medical waste.

"Do I have to go back to the infirmary?" Cloud asked.

"No." Sephiroth said. "I'm qualified to handle this."

Cloud nodded. He didn't care for hospitals, the one in Nibelheim caused more deaths than it prevented. He knew it was because they didn't implement the proper procedures and that hospitals in big cities were different but he couldn't separate them in his mind.

"You need to rest now." Sephiroth said. "I'll keep an eye on you for a while and when things stabilize I'll go to bed myself."

Cloud's head was beginning to go foggy from the medicine. "If you're keeping an eye on me, how are you getting other work done?" He'd wondered it before but it had seemed impolite to ask it at the time.

"I'm on the back rotation." Sephiroth said smiling at the confused look he received. "First classes receive away missions in rotations. When they're on the back rotation they're stationed in Midgar to provide training and _care_ to the cadets and younger SOLDIER's. My only duties just now are administrating your medical care and paperwork."

"Oh…" Cloud frowned. He hadn't considered that the man wasn't always being sent out to deal with life or death emergencies, but it made sense.

"Get some rest." Sephiroth patted the hand without the IV in it and took a seat in the chair he'd moved into the room from the living area to begin filling out paperwork.


	3. Game Night

**Disclaimer**: All Final Fantasy Seven characters, places and situations are the property of Square Soft/Square Enix and are used without permission and without intent of plagiarism or profit. Copyright for all original stories, characters, and situations is with the author (me), and may not be published, copied, distributed or archived without the author's prior written consent.

Oh, man. This one's been delayed a while hasn't it? I went to Cosplacon at the end of June and I meant to edit and post this the following week but I caught the cold from hell. Since then I've been sick twice more with two different bugs. -_-' That might be a record. I'm pretty happy with this chapter, even though I had to edit it to death, revive it, and continue editing to get it to a place where I liked it. If the format is off in places let me know and I'll try and get it fixed. Something went wonky when I put this chapter in the doc manager and I think I fixed it, but I may have missed something.

I received an explanation for the spelling of Shin-Ra. Namely, the hyphen is only used when referring to the company. Thank you HazzaTL3 for the explanation!

o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0 o-o0o-o0o-o0o

Sephiroth tossed the contents of the pan in his hand, rummaging in a drawer for a spatula while bits of chicken and root vegetables danced. Cloud couldn't help but stare as the General tossed the ingredients without them spilling. A rice cooker steamed between them on the counter.

"Please finish the zucchini I'll need it in a moment." Sephiroth said.

"Sorry." Cloud began chopping vegetables again.

"Are you that surprised I can cook?" Sephiroth smirked.

"Well…we did eat take-out for the last three days." Cloud said.

"I had a room in the lab until I was eleven. I started working as a tech and moved into this apartment then. The SOLDIER that lived next door was horrified to learn how much take-out I was eating." He swung the pan around. "Dump those in."

Cloud did as he was told. "So you've lived here for a while? Isn't this a SOLDIER apartment, how did you afford it?" Cloud watched as Sephiroth stirred everything and returned the pan to the fire.

"I didn't actually pay rent—standard SOLDIER apartments are paid for by the company—and they had already taken an interest in me. I worked in the lab until I was sixteen when I'd finished as a cadet and became a third class." Sephiroth found something in the cupboard and added it to the pan as he talked. "I didn't have to work. The company provided for me."

"Bet the company's definition of "provide" doesn't include anything nice."

"You'd be right." Sephiroth said. "Cafeteria meals, military issue hygiene products…the first things I did when I got a paycheck was go out to eat and buy a radio."

"So you've been in this apartment…" Cloud paused to do math and realized that he didn't know how old Sephiroth was. "I don't know how old you are."

"Twenty-seven." Sephiroth said.

"So…fifteen years." He blinked. "Aren't first class apartments bigger? Is there a fee or something to move to the larger apartments?"

"No and they've offered to move me often enough." Sephiroth said.

"So why not?" Cloud asked.

"…I like it here." Sephiroth said. "My best memories are here."

Cloud nodded and watched Sephiroth searching for a spoon in the drawer. It was still strange for him to see the great General in casual wear and to hear him randomly divulge stories from his past, but in the last few days he'd realized there was a lot more to the man than the posters and the news-clippings. Sephiroth seemed to enjoy talking, but frequently refrained from it out of concern he'd say the wrong thing or, at least, that was the impression that Cloud had gotten.

Sephiroth finally found a spoon to taste what he was cooking, suddenly setting the skillet aside and getting a drink straight from the facet. Cloud started laughing.

"That good, huh?" Cloud asked.

"You stick hot metal in your mouth." Sephiroth muttered.

"No thank you." Cloud smiled

Sephiroth turned off the stove and transferred everything into serving dishes before taking it to the table. Cloud followed him with the plates and silverware then went back to get the napkins and drinks.

"Do you want Kool-Aid?" Cloud asked. Sephiroth drank a lot of Kool-Aid.

"I think I want tea." Sephiroth answered.

Cloud got down a pair of mismatched glasses and filled them with tea before he joined Sephiroth at the table. He wasn't sure what dinner was, but it tasted good. He watched Sephiroth eating with a pair of sticks, silverware untouched.

"What are those?" Cloud finally asked.

"Chopsticks, they're used in Wutai." Sephiroth said. "They're a little tricky but I've gotten used to them."

"They seem complicated." Cloud said.

Sephiroth just laughed and continued eating. Silence fell between them until they were clearing the table and Sephiroth began speaking to him while they cleaned up.

"Tomorrow is your follow up exam. It's been a week since the first shower they need to check your response rate." Sephiroth said. "They'll be doing blood work and deciding on a treatment schedule."

"Will I be getting treatment tomorrow?" Cloud asked.

"No, those have to be arranged several days in advance." Sephiroth sat the last of the dishes in the dishwasher and began drying his hands. "If you're stabilizing they'll want to do a physical test. Strength, speed, and endurance, you had those done when you entered the cadet program, correct?"

"Yeah." Cloud thought back to that day. They'd tested how much the cadets could bench, how fast they could run from one end of the gym to the other, and then they'd stuck them on treadmills and told them to run until they fell off.

"They'll want to do those again if you're stabilizing so that they can measure your progress with the additional doses." Sephiroth neatly folded the towel he was holding. "If you're not stabilizing then the activity could trigger an attack and the physical tests will be put off."

Cloud nodded. "Okay, should I wear my uniform?"

"No, they'll probably put you in a gown anyway." Sephiroth said. "You're appointment is early. The sooner they have an answer the sooner they can work on the problem."

Sephiroth started the dishwasher and went to sit in the living room. Cloud followed him and took a seat across from him in a chair while the man turned on his radio and picked up his book. Cloud frowned, when Sephiroth began reading conversation ended for the night.

"When will I begin training?" Cloud asked, hoping to keep the conversation going a little while longer and stave off boredom a few more minutes.

"As soon as you've stabilized, when you're scheduled for the physical tests expect training to begin." Sephiroth looked up at Cloud and frowned. "I've been a bad host the last few days, haven't I?" Sephiroth turned off the radio and sat his book on his lap.

"No…it's just I'm house bound and…" Cloud trailed off with a shrug.

"You're bored." Sephiroth supplied, frowning. "I typically read in my spare time, not that I have much of it."

"I don't want to be a pain but I'm just not used to being indoors all day." Cloud sighed.

Cloud had suffered two more attacks since the day he first arrived and had been mostly bedridden for the week he'd been in Sephiroths' apartment. Sephiroth had spent most of the week at his desk poring over documents, making phone calls, or typing furiously. Sephiroth was kind and Cloud's awe of being in the Silver General's presence had faded enough for them to sit and comfortably converse at meal times.

Sephiroth was drumming his fingers on the cover of his book. Cloud watched him, waiting for Sephiroth to voice whatever he was thinking about.

"I have a game we could play." Sephiroth smiled. "Genesis bought it for me when we were third classes…I haven't played it much since…"

Sephiroth trailed off and Cloud didn't press the matter. Genesis Rhapsodes had gotten very sick in the last year and recently went missing. If Cloud had to guess, judging by the photo's hanging in the apartment, he would say the two Generals were very close friends.

"I'd love to play." Cloud said.

Sephiroth smiled and in one elegant movement was striding down the hall to his room. Cloud began clearing the coffee table, moving coasters and magazines onto the floor under it. He'd just moved the statuette that sat in the center of the table when Sephiroth returned with two wooden boxes.

The boxes had been beautifully painted once but now they were dinged in places and the paint was chipped. Cloud could even see faded pen where someone had drawn on them. Sephiroth sat the smaller box aside and began unfolding the larger one until it was completely laid out as a game board that took up nearly the entire table. A long twisting path of squares was painted on the board with mystery stains and more pen marks dotting the blank space around the path. Cloud couldn't read most of the faded writing, but he could tell it was written by more than one person.

Sephiroth opened the second box and began laying out the contents. There were six fat decks of cards, two dice, a coin, and nearly twenty small wooden statues of different animals. One die was six-sided and had symbols on it that represented the seasons as well as a symbol for day and night. The other die had sixteen. Cloud picked up the die and began turning it over in his fingers, there were the numbers negative eight through positive eight, excluding zero.

"There's a deck for each season, and two more for day and night." Sephiroth said. "You roll the season die to determine which deck you draw from, the easiest is spring and it progresses in difficulty until you get to winter. Day is personal questions, Night is the action deck. The coin is used in short games to determine which deck you draw from. In a short game you only play with the one season deck and either the day or the night deck. A full game takes days so we'll play a short one with the spring deck and the day deck."

"Okay." Cloud selected a dog figure and sat it beside Sephiroths' Sparrow figure, then helped Sephiroth scoop the rest back into the box. "So how do we start?"

"You begin by rolling the die and moving the number of spaces, then you flip the coin to determine which deck you draw from. If you fail to answer the question then you forfeit the spaces you've moved. If you roll a negative then you stay on start and if you fail the question while you're on start then you forfeit a turn." Sephiroth picked up the die and held it out to Cloud. "The youngest player always rolls first."

Cloud accepted the die and rolled it. He moved his piece three spaces then picked up a card from the top of the deck. Sephiroth flipped the coin for him and it landed with the season side up. Cloud drew from the spring deck.

"What is the best temperature to bake bread in a modern oven?" Cloud paused. "What the hell kind of question is that? Bread? I've never baked bread in my life…"

"You have to answer the question or return to start. Take your time, there is no time limit." Sephiroth was wearing a particularly evil smile.

"Damn it." Cloud stared at the card. "My mom baked bread but we had a wood burning stove…how is this an _easy _question?"

"It's easily accessible." Sephiroth said as he examined his nails.

"I don't read cookbooks." Cloud deadpanned.

"Then maybe you should start, after all, there isn't a time limit." Sephiroth suggested.

Cloud shot into the kitchen and dug through the handful of books Sephiroth had sitting on his bread-bin until he found one with a section on bread. He carried it back to the living room with him, scanning the recipes.

"Looks like the ideal temperature is between 375 degrees and 400 degrees Fahrenheit." Cloud said as he sat the book aside.

"If I was playing anyone else I'd make them convert that to Celsius." Sephiroth grinned.

Cloud could sense a story behind that statement but didn't prod, he had a feeling it involved Genesis and didn't want to upset Sephiroth. Sephiroth rolled the die and sighed at the negative four. Cloud flipped the coin for him with a grin and Sephiroth drew from the day deck.

"Share a happy memory." Sephiroth read the card aloud then paused to think.

"When I was eight they began training me for SOLDIER and I got to leave the Shin-Ra building overnight for the first time. I camped in the fields north of Midgar with three other SOLDIER's and they taught me about the constellations. I fell asleep watching the stars and caught a cold. I didn't know that I could catch a cold. The guys were scared to take me back to the labs with a sniffle so they made up a lie about going somewhere for extra training and they snuck me into one of their rooms." Sephiroth smiled. "They made me chicken noodle soup and bought me sweets. I slept on the couch for three days, watching cartoons and getting my hair brushed. Now when I don't feel good I have to have toffees."

Cloud took the die and rolled it again, he came up with a five. He moved his piece the five places and flipped. He drew a card from the day deck but didn't read it immediately.

"So, how often do you get sick?" Cloud asked. "I thought that first classes couldn't get sick. Do you just have a better immune system?"

"I have an excellent immune system." He smiled. "When I was little I got sick more often because they went by a standard non-enhanced dietary plan and I wasn't getting all the nutrition I needed. Now that I get a better balance I only get sick now and then, although it's pretty bad when I do…"

"It seems like I'm always sick with something." Cloud chuckled and read the card. "When was the last time that you were lost?"

"Have you been lost recently?" Sephiroth asked. "When I played with Genesis the standing rule was if you couldn't remember the event being asked for then you would use one you could remember and hadn't used in previous games."

"Hm…" Cloud looked at the ceiling. "I guess I was pretty lost when I first came to Midgar. I hitch-hiked my way to Kalm and a vegetable seller brought me to Midgar from Kalm. I helped him unload his truck and by then it was nightfall. I walked around and around in circles until I ran into a third class SOLDIER that was on his way back from a mission and he led me to the headquarters."

"I've lived in Midgar my entire life and I still get lost." Sephiroth said a little sheepishly. "Anytime I'm out for public appearances Shin-Ra makes sure I've got someone with me so I don't ruin my infallible image by asking for directions to my own home."

Cloud started laughing as his mind conjured an image of Sephiroth wandering the streets like a lost kid calling for their parent. Sephiroth laughed with him as he rolled a one and moved his piece, flipped the coin, and drew a spring card.

"Calculate the volume of the nearest empty container." Sephiroth read aloud.

Cloud watched as Sephiroth disappeared into his study. He came back with a ruler and a pad of paper, and then stopped to pick up an empty glass off of the counter. Sephiroth sat down and took several quick measurements of the object then set it aside and began writing on the pad of paper. Sephiroths' PHS began ringing and be fished it out of his pocket to read the message.

"If you round it's 198 cubic inches. I'm sorry; I need to deal with this. If you'd like we can leave the game set up and finish after your appointment."

"Sure." Cloud said.

Sephiroth got to his feet and vanished into his study. Cloud turned back to the board game and began counting the squares. Even if Sephiroth hadn't been called away Cloud wasn't sure that they'd have finished the game that night. He reluctantly began ensuring everything was setting firmly in place and made a note on the pad of paper where they were in case it was days before they made it back to the game. Once he'd done that Cloud got up and headed down the hall. He paused in front of his door when he heard Sephiroth raise his voice.

Cloud peeked into Sephiroths' room to see him growling down the phone as he violently flipped through paperwork. Cloud shrugged and headed for his own bedroom. He'd been sleeping a lot lately, he'd thought it was just his body trying to get better but now was wondering if it was just because he was bored.

o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0o-o0 o-o0o-o0o-o0o

I couldn't find a game that matched what I wanted so I made one up, and it doesn't have a name! Any suggestions for a name are welcome.

I'm going to try and get the next chapter up fast. There's a section in my profile with my planned update schedule and I try to keep it current so if you're wondering when the next chapter will be up (or why I'm taking so long) you can check there. Unfortunately, I wound up pushing the date back four times for this chapter...I'm going to try real hard not to do that again.


End file.
